The Camogie Association have taken a U-turn on their stance against the Cork Camogie team.

Following the regrading drama which left nine Cork camogie players unable to regrade for the 2016 year, the Camogie Association have released a very brief statement in relation to the Cork Camogie regrading/arbitration process.

Under Rule 30.1 (c), the nine players who were part of the Cork Camogie senior panel but did not feature during the championship were required to apply to be deemed eligible for intermediate in 2016. The application forms to be regarded were sent to the Cork Camogie secretary last month and then forwarded to the Camogie Association for approval. Nine of the eleven applications were rejected by the Camogie Association as the forms were not signed in pen. In the letter of rejection, the Camogie Association Ard Stiúrthóir Joan O’Flynn stated that “Ard Chomhairle did not grant your request as it was noted that your form was not personally signed by you as required”.

Earlier this month at the launch of the Club finals Camogie President Catherine Neary stated;

“We are where we are, “The rules were applied as we explained in the statement last week and that’s where it sits at the moment. We’ve gone with the rules. It’s unfortunate the rules can lead to this type of situation but the rules are there and are designed so that everybody understands what the processes were. I can’t comment on the previous year because I wasn’t part of that so I don’t know what did or didn’t happen, or how things were applied. I can only talk about at the moment and at the moment that’s the rule that’s being applied equally across everybody and all counties, so we haven’t treated anybody any differently. That’s the important thing. That’s why the rules are there, to make sure everybody is treated the same.”

The nine players took their case through an arbitration process after the Camogie Association rejected the submitted regrading applications. This contentious appeal was successful and the players in question can now re-submit their regrading application.

“The outcome of the arbitration process on March 3rd was that the requests for re-grading by nine Cork players will be regularised by a personal signature and will be deemed eligible for consideration by the Camogie Association’s Re-grading Committee.”

As it stands, the Division two national league has no Cork team lining out for their first two rounds and they now face Westmeath and Galway and will be able to field teams for these games.

As the light shines on another camogie controversy, once again the players find themselves on the wrong end of the stick. As the dispute continues with 2014 and 2015 All-Ireland champions, players are feeling very let down by their beloved game. Finola Neville is one of the nine Cork Camogie players that is currently up in arms with the Camogie Association over their application of regrading from senior level to intermediate level.